Folk Art

We're not quite sure how to define folk art.  It is one of those things we seem to know when we see it but it is hard to define.  Mostly we think of folk art as objects that were made, created or painted for the pleasure of it and not for commercial purposes when initially created.  Much of the older folk art we are drawn too seems to have been made to decorate a home or office.  

This contemporary example of folk art is a timely example for 4th of July.  Our dear friend John Bush carved this Uncle Sam whirligig.  We just love it!

Rick's Great Great Grandmother was a painter.  Her name was Mary Emery Rick and she painted, like most folk art artists of the late 1800s, on what ever she could find.  This charming painting was done on a shortening can lid.

Here is another shortening can lid painting she did and is in Rick's family collection.

Mary Emery Rick also painted a picture of her favorite bird that used to sing outside her kitchen window in Southern California.  She used a slice of the orange tree that grew at her home that the bird used to perch on.  We can only imagine that its beautiful song brought her joy as she did her kitchen chores.  It certainly moved her enough to paint it and pass it on to future generations to enjoy.

We have no idea who painted this simple primitive winter painting of a fox stalking a rabbit.  It sure serves as a good example of what we like and find charming.

We love folk art.